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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017
While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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| Semifinals: Gerardo Godinez-Estrada vs. Alejandro Cruz Moreno |
| Jason Grabher-Meyer |
| May 09, 2005 |
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 Former $10K Mexico City Champion Estrada was one of the three competitors in the tournament playing Evil Medical School, and was one of the two to take it all the way to the semifinals. Moreno was running a well-teched Curve Sentinels deck.
Both players kept their opening hands, and Estrada opened with Alfred on turn 1. He played a resource for turn 2, and after a bit of thought decided to recruit a GCPD Officer, bump Alfred to his hand for a Faces of Doom, and . . . not re-recruit him? Moreno had an open field and the GCPD Officer swung for 1 endurance loss. The tournament hall was hot beyond belief and it was visibly taking its toll on all present.
Turn 3 pitted a Sentinel Mark III against the Officer, Alfred, and a Robot Sentry. Moreno was not off to a good start, and no combat took place on turn 3.
Turn 4 wasn’t much better for him, as he recruited Boliver Trask, fetched a Mark II, and recruited it. Moreno was ringed with cups of shaved ice and soda, though—he seemed to be taking a snack-intensive route towards mental victory, as Estrada sweated massively, no assistance in sight.
Estrada Bat-Signaled to dig for another GCPD Officer, which was another weird move. He recruited Doom, Diabolic Genius and took a commanding lead in doing so. The Officer exhausted for the Signal protected Alfred, while Doom protected the Sentry. Facts like that come in handy in this matchup if, you know, Savage Boliver becomes a big issue.
Moreno aimed to attack Alfred and he predictably jumped back into The Hand. Combat quickly swung in Estrada’s favor, as the Mark II and Boliver were stunned almost instantaneously. Predictably, Moreno opted to lose the Boliver.
On turn 5, Estrada flipped a copy of World’s Finest, then recruited Dr. Hauptmann and a Robot Destroyer. Moreno continued his horrid record of hitting drops, filling his turn with a boosted Mark V. His Mark II ate steel fist as Doom punched through him, and a Hauptmann-powered Robot Destroyer smashed the Mark V in the face. The Sentry activated, and Moreno was left with nothing to do.
Moreno finally hit a drop on turn 6, and it was the one that counts—Bastion. That said, Estrada just kept bringing the ideal draws, and recruited Dr. Light, Arthur Light. The Sentry exhausted the Mark III, and Bastion tried to slam Dr. Light, but Mystical Paralysis kept Bastion from doing so. The Mark V then attacked Doom with a Savage Beatdown, and the Robot Destroyer stunned to use its effect and take it down.
Boliver attacked the Sentry with a Bastion bonus, scoring the double stun. Moreno was wide open though, and Dr. Light utterly destroyed his remaining character.
Estrada had virtually nothing for turn 7. He recruited Commissioner Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth. He flipped a Marvel Team-Up to complete his shared teaming initiative, and Moreno responded by flipping and activating a Genosha. He recruited Magneto and activated Bastion on Alfred twice in order to Overload him, but was met by a Fizzle. Moreno chained another Genosha in response, and why he was fighting so hard just to smack Alfred was a bit bewildering.
Bastion beefed up one Mark V by four points and another by three, losing a huge chunk of his hand, but Bastion went down to Dr. Light. Mystical Paralysis fixed one Mark V and Robot Destroyer stunned the last one.
It was all down here for Estrada. With his opponent down two resources and not having The Hand presence needed to win the game, he had both the control of the initiative and a Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria. However, he decided to forego it, instead choosing to recruit Psimon and GCPD Officer in order to really cut off Moreno’s options. Dr. Light’s effect eliminated Magneto, and Alfred scurried off to fetch a Mystical Paralysis. Estrada used it to exhaust the Bastion, leaving the deck virtually devoid of an offensive.
Next turn Estrada managed to find himself without a copy of Dr. Light to boost, so he recruited Doom, Lord of Latveria. Recycling a copy of Press the Attack, allowing Lord of Latveria to attack over and over, it was game in Estrada’s favor!
Game Win: Gerardo Godinez-Estrada
 Game Two
Both competitors exploded out of the gates on turn 1, Moreno with Boliver Trask and Estrada with Alfred. He’d follow up everyone’s favorite old man with Shimmer, while Monero would recruit Hounds of Ahab. Everything was suddenly locked down by Shimmer’s effect, but the game was moving fast.
Monero continued to hit his curve, recruiting Mark II, Number II on turn 3. Life was not so easy for Estrada, who flipped World’s Finest but then made no drop. The Mark II, Number II assaulted Shimmer, and when Boliver went to attack Alfred, Estrada sent him back to his hand to retrieve a Reign of Terror. With nothing in their path, the Hounds of Ahab cleared Estrada’s board.
Estrada topdecked like a champ, drawing straight into the copy of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius that he needed. He recruited it and passed, while Moreno recruited a Mark V. A pair of Reign of Terror then hit everything but the Mark V, and it was the robot facing down Dr. Doom. Neither player attacked, each afraid of the repercussions their actions might bring—a true Mexican standoff, as the saying goes.
Moreno would continue to draw perfectly, recruiting Nimrod on turn 5. Estrada recruited Alfred, and then teamed up GK with Doom. He rounded out his five points for the turn with another copy of Doom, but the Mark V took out Alfred and Nimrod went after Dr. Doom. Two stuns with no stun back? Nice. He lost everything but the new Diabolic Genius.
Next turn he recruited a copy of Shimmer, an Alfred, and a GCPD Officer. Moreno just kept on curving, hitting Bastion and forcing Estrada to Shimmer for the stall. Turn 7 saw Moreno draw Magneto, of course, and things looked less than perfect for Estrada. He recruited Dr. Light and another copy of GCPD Officer in reply and took quite a while to figure out what formation would best suit his needs.
Moreno popped his first Genosha, and then tried to attack with Magneto. Estrada looked tired and was making some mistakes, such as using Dr. Light’s effect on Nimrod. Moreno tossed another Genosha to draw another four cards. Press the Attack readied Dr. Light, and he stunned the remaining threats within the household except for Bastion.
Bastion sought revenge, and he attacked into Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. Moreno proceeded to give Dr. Doom +8 ATK/ +8 DEF with Bastion’s effect, and he then attacked into him. Moreno attempted to flip Overload, but it was an illegal play due to the condition of Doom’s effect! Moreno almost quit right there.
 Next turn, Estrada recruited Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria. Moreno had nothing to recruit but a Mark III, so Estrada locked down the board with Shimmer. Dr. Doom committed to an attack on the Mark III, and Boris got a copy of Reign of Terror. Doom attacked, the Mark III bounced off the field, and Doom readied yet again before making a second attack. Estrada maintained priority for a moment to Bat-Signal for another Doom version. It not only gave him some more power in combat, but it also got him closer to Press the Attack’s condition, as well as setting up a big Lightshow on a successive turn. Estrada got greedy and went immediately after Bastion, who just barely got big enough to stun back Doom. Dr. Light then stunned the Hounds, and play moved to turn 9.
With only 6 resources at his disposal, Moreno could only recruit a pair of Mark IIs. Estrada recruited Dr. Light with boost, and pushed three copies of Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, one Lord of Latveria, one Alfred, one Shimmer, and an additional Dr. Light into the mix. It was so over.
Three Mystical Paralysis and some wacky chaining later, Estrada had exhausted all of Moreno’s board aside from one Nimrod and one Mark II. He used Press the Attack on Alfred to send him off for a plot twist, flipped a fourth Mystical Paralysis with his Lord of Latveria to exhaust another Mark II, and then used Faces of Doom to find another Doom, Diabolic Genius. It was enough to get Moreno to scoop.
Match Win: Gerardo Godinez-Estrada |
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